


Dream a Little Dream of Menagerie

by cherie_morte



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pet Store, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-25 04:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10756518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherie_morte/pseuds/cherie_morte
Summary: AU: Jared's got the perfect job. He runs a pet store for his boss Misha—but it's not just any pet store. Misha's Dream a Little Dream of Menagerie is full of creatures most people only ever imagine: tiny lantern dragons, judgmental unicorns, songbirds that sound better than any radio, and even a baby Loch Ness monster. Lately it's been kind of hard to concentrate, however, thanks to the new on-site vet, Jensen, who has everything Jared's perfect man would have…and a serious boyfriend on top of all that.





	Dream a Little Dream of Menagerie

**Author's Note:**

> Repost of my 2012 [spn_reversebang](http://spn-reversebang.livejournal.com/) inspired by art by [ordinaryink](http://ordinaryink.livejournal.com/). Art found [here](http://ordinaryink.livejournal.com/61654.html), story originally found [here](http://infatuated-ink.livejournal.com/79526.html). A podfic of this story read by the wonderful [exmanhater](http://exmanhater.livejournal.com/) is available [here](http://cakehole-club.livejournal.com/35842.html).

Jared has always been partial to mid-April afternoons. He's no weatherman, but he has a sneaking suspicion nonetheless that nothing bad can happen when the sun is filtering through fresh drops of rain and the air is sharp with the smell of new life.

He always suspected this, but here's the clincher: it's just past 2 o'clock on April the 25th the first time he sees Jensen.

It's a slow day at the shop. Jared is leaning his chin on his hand and nearly dozing off at the counter when the doorbell rings and alerts him of a customer. After four and a half hours of sitting here with only the pets to keep him company, this is a small but glorious miracle in and of itself.

It only gets more exciting when he perks up, standing to look his client in the eye. The face he sees is so stunning that Jared wonders if he maybe got too close to the lucky crickets and inhaled some pheromones again, and now he's tripping balls and imagining happy things where they are not. That's okay, though, he'll go with it for now and try to remember to be more careful next time.

The man's eyes are as shimmering green as the scales on Spyro's back and his cheeks are dusted with freckles as gold as the ashes Fawkes leaves behind when he regenerates.

_If you're at the point of cataloguing attractive men by the features they have in common with the animals you sell, that's probably a sign you need to get out more._

Jared feels himself scowl and sends a glare toward the window. Stupid, asshole, mind-reading unicorns. They should at least not be able to talk into his mind when he's put a whole damn wall between them.

"Bad time?" asks the insanely beautiful man, and Jared snaps his head back too quickly, trying to get his expression under control.

"They'll be here whenever you return," he replies sourly. "Misha won't let me sell the nasty bastards."

The guy raises his eyebrow, and Jared remembers that there's no way the stranger heard what the unicorn just thought at him, so mostly he just looks nuts. He shakes his head and smiles as encouragingly as he can.

"Sorry. Unicorns. Mind waves. It's annoying." Jared spreads his hands out on the counter. "What can I do for you?"

The man laughs as if he actually knows what the hell Jared is talking about, and then he opens his mouth to reply. Before he gets anything out, though, he makes a confused face and looks down at his leg.

There's a baby hedgie wrapping around it, vines growing enthusiastically up the man's side. It's cooing fondly, and Jared can't help grinning, even as he's a little jealous of the creature for getting to make all that contact.

"Hedgies are excellent judges of character," Jared says, pointing at the animal. "They don't usually like strangers. Probably means you're meant to be."

The man laughs pleasantly, another good sign, and then reaches down to stroke gently under one of the baby's leaves. No one just knows how to pet a hedgie correctly. This is a match made in Heaven.

Jared starts feeling giddy, the usual response he has when he can tell he's about to send something home with just the right owner. "We have them in rose, sunflower, and chrysanthemum as well, but I'm thinking this fern here is the hedgie for you."

It purrs its consent and continues to wrap around the man.

Jared bends down to grab a bag from under the counter and begins to rattle off care instructions, "Now, you can keep them inside or outside if you have bright enough lighting, but they are partial to sun, so if you could get it out and walk it every now and then, that'll keep it happiest. You can also purchase some of this high-nutrient soil if you really wanna spoil her—I mix it here myself, so I can guarantee the quality—but they do produce their own nutrients as long as they have sun, so that and some water twice a day are the only real—"

The man bends down to gently detach it from himself. "Uh, no, sorry. I'm not here to buy a hedgie."

Jared feels his smile slip and watches the fern as it slinks away sadly, making a low rejected sound. He'll give it some extra soil tonight to cheer it up. He tries to stay confident and meets the guy's eyes again. He'll find the right pet. It's almost never the first thing in the store, anyway.

"Maybe you're more of a dog man? You seem like a dog man." Jared nods. This will be a good fit, he thinks. "We just got six rescue direwolf puppies in. I knock off 2/3 of the price if one of them likes you enough to establish a psychic connection in-store."

"That's a horrible sales practice," the guy says with a laugh. "How do you make money?"

Jared frowns. "I'm more concerned with sending them to the right home than making money, to be honest."

To Jared's relief, the guy smiles at that, the corners of his eyes wrinkling like—no. Jared is not going to do it. He won't give those damn unicorns the satisfaction. The point is, it looks really good the way they bunch up.

"That's a great thing to hear from a new employer, Mr. Collins." The guy holds his hand out, and Jared pauses before taking it, realizing he maybe needs to start giving people time to speak _before_ he launches into trying to sell them things.

"New employer?" Jared asks. He didn't realize they were looking for any new employees, let alone had already hired one. Nobody tells him anything. He's gonna have Misha's ass for this—he does everything around here, he should at least know who's being brought into his shop.

The man is still standing there, arm outstretched, beginning to look a little awkward. Jared realizes he should clarify. "Oh, I'm not Misha."

"Not Misha? Am I in the wrong place?" He pulls a crumpled newspaper advertisement out of his pocket, reads it over, and then looks around. "Gonna be honest, this looks like the right place."

"No, no, you're in the right place! Sorry. I'm Jared. Misha's my boss. He owns the shop and creates most of the animals. I'm just in charge of, well, everything else."

"Jared," the man says, again offering his hand. Jared takes it this time. "I'm Jensen. The USDA sent me."

Oh, right. Animal Welfare Act. Jared did hear something about this.

"You're our new vet?" Jared asks, forgetting himself and letting his eyes boggle just a bit. How is he supposed to work with this every day and not become guilty of some severely inappropriate workplace behavior?

_Seriously, man. Get out more._

Jared fucking hates unicorns.

"Not officially until I've talked to the man in charge. But I'm under the impression that it was pretty tough to find one person trained to look after everything you guys sell here, so it'll really be best for everyone if I'll do."

"Don't worry about that," Jared says waving a hand. "I pretty much call the shots around here. Misha is just a slightly nutty rich guy who made a hobby out of magical animal creation and then realized he was going to have more pets than he could look after if he didn't find a way to get rid of some."

"Hence the magical pet shop?" Jensen asks, looking around.

"Hence the magical pet shop," Jared confirms. "Which he hired me to run."

 _Because you have no social life_ , supplies a kindly pink unicorn with sparkles in her mane.

"One second," Jared says, holding up a finger. "I'm just going to close the window."

Jensen laughs, a full, hearty chuckle that makes Jared feel like he's going to start vomiting rainbows any moment.

"Yeah, unicorns," he says once he's gotten control of himself. "Worst damn unit in school."

"Ugh," Jared agrees. "They're basically Misha's best friends. He will not let me sell any of them. I never go near them and they still drive me bonkers. I can't imagine how you spent enough time around one to learn how to take care of them."

Jensen grins, turning his back on Jared to inspect the rest of the store. "I can teach you a pretty great trick. If you eat a lot of broccoli, your thoughts smell bad to them. It's not an impermeable block, but it'll make it so they'll only get into your head if they're really, really determined to be dicks."

"Misha's unicorns are always really, really determined to be dicks," Jared says. "But I'll be sure to try it anyway."

"Do," Jensen says distractedly. He disappears toward the songbirds and comes out about 20 minutes later from the aquatic pets section. He's grinning ear to ear.

"Two red-bellied sea serpents, nine species of teacup whales, and the healthiest Loch Ness monster I've seen on this side of the Atlantic." Jensen shakes his head ruefully. "Do you have any idea how hard those are to make?"

"Nope," Jared says cheerfully. "But I know that she cannot get enough of Ritz crackers."

Jensen laughs softly. "This Misha must really know what he's doing. I mean, I've seen people try to get into the magical pet business to make money, but how the hell do you just pick it up as a hobby?"

"He really likes science?" Jared offers.

"He must." Jensen is kind of adorably enthusiastic about this whole thing, which is nice, because it's usually just Jared standing around in here trying to wrap his head around how awesome his job is. "I've never seen this many of the animals I specialize in collected in one place before. I had to travel all over the world just to find some of these species for study, and yet here they all are under one roof. Amazing. How did you guys even get a license to open this place?"

Jared shrugs. "Ohio has a sorry excuse for an exotic pet ownership law?"

"Well, I'm here trying to fix that." Jensen's lips thin, and he looks at Jared apologetically. "I hope you don't feel like I'm going to step on your toes, by the way. I promise I won't interfere with how you're running the shop unless I see something that puts the animals in harm, and it all looks more than in line with regulations for now. I just want to make sure the animals are safe and taken care of. Which is not to say you don't take care of them—"

Jared laughs and interrupts before Jensen can make himself anymore uncomfortable. "Dude, relax. I was actually really happy when they sent us the notice. I think having a vet who actually knows a thing or two about magical creatures on-site is a great idea, considering some of the things we're stocking."

Jared is thinking of when Smaug cut his wing last year, how they'd had to fly someone in to look after him. It had turned out alright, sure, but like a worried parent, Jared had spent the entire eight hours they were waiting for the vet to arrive imagining the worst. Even the unicorns had tried to comfort him that night. That wouldn't have happened if someone had thought to bring Jensen in sooner, and it makes Jared breathe a sigh of relief.

Jensen smiles another blinding smile, and Jared can't take his eyes off of him. "Great! That's great. I was worried you'd be taking this as an insult or something, but I'm just here to make your job easier. I'd like to start with some check-ups on the animals, maybe tomorrow, once I've gotten my papers all squared away with Misha. That should take at least a couple of weeks, but after that I figure there won't be much work for me unless someone gets sick. I'll be happy to help you out with anything else, sales or stocking, just to stay busy. Since I'll be around all the time anyway."

Jared takes a deep breath. He's going to be working non-stop with the disgustingly hot guy who is apparently as nerdy over the animals in Misha's shop as Jared is. He is either the luckiest man alive or about to wake up with a freezing cold splash of water to his face.

"This place really is amazing," Jensen says idly as he looks around one more time. "I can't wait until my boyfriend sees it."

There it is.

"I don't want to alarm you," Jensen says, leaning over the counter and whispering to Jared, "but I think we need to call the police."

Jared looks up from the bottom shelf, where he's kneeling as he alphabetizes some animal care books. "That's a really bad line to open with if you don't want me alarmed."

Jared stands, looking past Jensen's shoulder to see if there's a fire or animal riot. All appears quiet, so Jared calms a little. "What's up?"

"There is a woman in the aquarium section wearing a wetsuit and holding a harpoon."

Jared sighs. "Is she feeding the tiny sharks?"

"Actually, it looked like she was playing fetch with them," Jensen replies, and then his eyebrows draw together. "Wait, what? Seriously? I tell you some random lady is about to go spear fishing in your pet store and you ask if she's feeding the sharks?"

"That's just Genevieve," Jared says with a laugh. "She's always wearing a wet suit. Even when she's not getting wet. I don't think I've ever seen her without one, actually. I wonder how she showers." Jared pursues that train of thought for a few seconds, then shakes his head and gets back on point. "Don't worry. She wouldn't hurt a fish."

"Isn't the expression 'wouldn't hurt a fly'?" Jensen asks, still looking uneasy.

"She'd probably hurt a fly," Jared admits. "She'd definitely hurt a human. But she's big on marine life. She's not going to go spear fishing."

"Why does she have a harpoon then?" Jensen asks, raising an eyebrow and leaning on the counter. He seems to be less concerned, so that's good, but he should probably not be this up in Jared's space considering they hardly know each other and he smells amazing and Jared's been having a hard enough time not staring at his ass all day as is.

Jared shrugs. "I dunno. She almost always has it. I don't ask because I don't want to have to lie to the police. The less I know about where her ex-boyfriend went the better, you know?"

Jensen's eyes widen in horror, and Jared snorts just as Genevieve marches up to the counter, followed by a small procession of shrunken aquatic critters in floating water bubbles. "The harpoon makes me their god," she announces, sliding in next to Jensen and leaning an elbow on the counter. "What are you new here or something?"

"Well, actually," Jensen says, scratching the back of his neck. "Yeah?"

Jared smirks. "Gen, this is Jensen. He's the new vet."

"New vet!" she says with a smile and a nod. "Misha was telling me about you. So you're the guy the government sent as part of their secret plan to steal his animal creation technology and use it to build super weapons?"

Jensen looks to Jared, clearly lost, and then back to Genevieve. "I—no! I'm just supposed to take care of the animals."

"Uh huh." She narrows her eyes and looks Jensen over probingly. "You just hide in that little cover story, buddy. But don't think you're so clever. We're watching you."

Jared drops his face into one hand. "I'm sorry," he tells Jensen. "They're embarrassing and crazy."

"Hey, no!" Jared hears Jensen's hand slap on Genevieve's wet suit as he shakes her hand and pats her back. "It's nice to meet you, Gen. I look forward to convincing you I'm not part of a vast government conspiracy."

Jared's head snaps up, and he gives Genevieve a stern look. "You are so busted."

She laughs nervously. "What? Busted? Psh. No. I didn't do anything. I'm totally innocent."

"Jensen told me you were feeding the sharks. Which is _bad for them_ , may I remind you? And I know you went swimming. I heard the water," Jared says. He looks at Jensen. "Her suit is wet, right? You just touched it."

"I'm not getting involved," Jensen answers, raising his hands in surrender.

"I know what you're thinking," says Genevieve, pointing a finger in Jared's face. "And you have no proof."

"No proof?" Jared raises an eyebrow. "So you didn't go swimming with the sharks today?"

"No. Nope. Nuh uh." She purses her lips and shakes her head. "Don't even know why you're accusing me."

"Gen, sweetness."

She gives Jared a sharp smile. "Yeah, baby?"

"You have a starfish attached to your shoulder, dear."

Genevieve's eyes widen and she looks down, then grins awkwardly. "Oh, that. He, uh. He climbed out."

"Turn around."

She turns, sees the group of bubbled animals floating behind her adoringly. Turning back to Jared, she takes a step away from the counter. "They didn't follow me. I don't know anything about it. I'm just gonna…go see how Misha's doing."

"God dammit, Gen. This is how they get out of their tanks! Do you have any idea how long I spend chasing after—?" Jared stops, looking around. "Where's the narwhal?"

Genevieve smirks, looking over at the open window, which Jared is pretty sure was shut when he first started working on the books. "Oops! Sorry! My bad! I'll be more careful next time."

He glares. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you let them out on purpose."

Genevieve puts her hands on her hips. "They like to get exercise, Jared! It's _wrong_ to keep them all cooped up in those little tanks!"

"Okay, first of all? If the tank is big enough for you to go diving, it's big enough for a few miniature sea creatures. And second? They have less space to swim in when they're in those little bubbles than in the tank."

"They like to see the world," Genevieve insists.

"And third—" Jared begins, but Genevieve cuts him off.

"Don't say the third thing," she says. "Do you have no heart? Haven't you ever been in love, Jared? Can't you see the little guy has it bad?"

"Please stop encouraging him, Genevieve. Narwhals and unicorns are just not meant to be."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute," Jensen interrupts. He'd been perfectly content to stand quietly by, watching with amusement as Genevieve and Jared fought it out, but apparently his concern for the animals wins out in this moment. "How do you have a narwhal floating around in a water bubble? What if his horn pops it?"

"That's why we put the cork on the end. Duh." Genevieve dismisses him with a toss of her hair. "It's called logistics, bitch."

Jensen nods, conceding the point, then drums his fingers on the counter as he turns to address Jared. "This has been entertaining, but I've still got a few birds to check out before I get to the direwolves, so I'm gonna get back to work."

Jared nods. "Yeah, yeah, of course. Let me know if you need any help. In the meantime, I'll be…chasing after a rogue narwhal, apparently."

Jensen grins and walks off, and Genevieve watches him go before turning back to Jared. "Your kind of man or my kind of man?"

Jared laughs at how predictable she is and turns back to his books. "Put the octopus, whales, and sharks back in their tank so we can go find Casanova and bring him back in."

"Ooooohh," she says in a teasing tone. "You avoided my question. That means you like him."

Jared turns to face her, pointing back in the direction of the aquarium.

She rolls her eyes and nods. "Alright, alright. As soon as you tell me which way the new eye candy swings."

"He's gay," Jared says in a hushed voice. "Sorry to break it to you."

She does a little dance and smiles up at him. "Oh my god, you totally already slept with him, didn't you?"

Jared groans. "Please, go clean up your mess."

"No details? What do I keep you around for?"

"He's got a boyfriend," Jared says.

"Bummer." Genevieve walks off, loyal army of whales and sharks swimming in a train behind her. "No wonder you don't want my little narwhal to find love."

Sphinx circles Jared's feet, butting her head up against his shin as she tries to get his attention. Jared smiles at the floor, placing Spyro on the counter before bending to pick the cat up.

"Well, good morning little lady," he says, sweeping her into his arms. "Haven't seen you about in a few days. Where you been, huh?"

Spyro climbs from the counter to the cash register and then up Jared's shoulder, settling in a heap on his head. He grins, holding Sphinx to his chest with one arm and petting the scaly hide above him.

"You jealous I'm giving Sphinx a little attention?" he asks.

Spyro answers with a quiet bark, a small puff of black smoke coming out with it. By the time Jared's done coughing and waving his hand to clear the air, Jensen is standing in front of him.

"Got your hands full, huh?" Jensen asks, his eyes moving from Spyro to Sphinx and bunching up the way Jared has been trying all week to forget about.

"It's more love than I can handle," Jared says, extending Sphinx out to Jensen. "Wanna take her off my hands?"

Jensen nods, reaching out and holding her up for inspection. "You're a pretty girl, aren't ya?"

Sphinx purrs, her head nodding almost as if she knows what Jensen's saying. Jared takes Spyro off his head and strokes the dragon down his spine, watching Jensen lavish Sphinx with affection.

"This guy here is Spyro. He's from our most recent litter of medium-size Mandarin dragons. His brothers and sisters all just got old enough to sell. Spyro is the only one left." Jared grins and pats him on the head. "But that's okay, cause he's my favorite. Isn't he? Yes, he is a good boy."

Spyro's forked little tongue slips out and wraps around Jared's finger, and Jensen laughs.

"And this is?"

"That's Sphinx. She's our mascot, I guess you could say. The store pet."

"You have a store pet at your pet shop?" Jensen asks, raising an eyebrow, but he's smiling, and he doesn't look like he thinks it's completely stupid.

"Yep," Jared says. "She wandered in one day and refused to wander out, so we figured she belongs here."

"Wandered in?" Jensen says, picking her up and looking her over critically. "So she really is just a cat?"

Sphinx makes a sad sound, and Jared reaches out, scratching behind her ears. "Shh," he whispers to Jensen. "Don't say that."

"She doesn't know she's a cat?"

Jared shakes his head. "She thinks she's magical. That's why we couldn't get her to leave. So we don't tell her otherwise anymore. No sense in hurting her feelings, right?"

Jensen laughs. "Let me get this straight. The pet shop pet at your magical pet store is not magical."

"He didn't mean it," Jared assures Sphinx, stroking her fur. "Don't listen to him, baby."

Jensen watches Jared pet Sphinx and reaches out to play with Spyro's tail. The green dragon doubles over onto its back, his feet kicking in the air cheerfully. "I'll be sure to respect the cat's identity crisis when I give her her check-up," Jensen tells Jared. "But I actually came in here to ask if you could help me out? I know you don't like the unicorns, but I've gotta go look at them, and I could really use a second pair of hands to keep them from running off."

"Oh, yeah," Jared says. "Sure, of course. Anything I should grab?"

Jensen shakes his head, raising his clipboard. "I've got us covered."

Jared nods, putting up a sign in case a customer comes in while he's out. He hears claws clicking on the surface of the counter and grins, patting his side. "Come along, boy. You wanna go outside?"

Spyro chases Jared to the end of the counter, then stops hesitantly. Jared calls him encouragingly, and Spyro takes a leap off, flapping his wings a couple of times before tumbling gracelessly to the ground. Jared helps turn him over, petting his side and then his head as he follows Jensen. "That's alright, boy. You'll do better next time."

"He having trouble flying?" Jensen asks casually, holding the back door open for Jared and Spyro.

Jared nods, watching the dragon as it traipses its way up the garden path before stopping to sniff a bush of flowers. "Yeah, poor little guy. It's why he hasn't sold yet."

Jensen frowns, eyes following Spyro a few feet ahead. "See how he holds his wing out just a bit on the left side?"

Jared nods.

"It might just be a little bent." He looks up, smiling at Jared. "Don't look so concerned! That's actually a relatively common problem for dragons his size. I can fix it in a jiffy. He won't even feel pain."

"Really?" Jared asks excitedly. Spyro spent the better part of his youth getting pushed around by the other dragons in his litter because he couldn't fly. Even his mom wasn't all that accepting. Jared had to bottle feed him just to keep him alive. "That'd be great."

Jensen gives Jared a bright smile. "Hey, that's what I'm here for," he says, clapping Jared on the back as he walks toward the unicorn stable. "We've just gotta wait a few more weeks until he's a juvenile. He's still growing, so resetting the wing right now won't make much sense."

Jared nods and trots along after Jensen like a grateful puppy. "He's gonna be so happy," says Jared. "You're the best."

"Let's see if you still feel the same way after I drag you around from unicorn to unicorn for a few hours," Jensen calls back over his shoulder.

They find Misha in the stable, having what appears to be a serious debate on _Anna Karenina_ with a green and blue unicorn and a yellow and red one.

"I can't even believe you're defending Karenin right now," Misha says heatedly, glaring at the yellow unicorn on his left. "He was colder than a yeti!"

Misha waits a few more seconds, nodding at something the green one is thinking at him before picking up, "Exactly, Charles. Exactly!"

"Uh, excuse me," Jensen says, approaching meekly. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm scheduled to give these unicorns a check up?"

"Oh, sure," Misha says, relaxing out of his argumentative stance and giving Jensen a handshake. "We were just having book club."

"Of course you were," Jared mutters.

Misha looks up. "Oh, are you here, too? Have you met Jensen? He's going to be joining us."

"He's been working for us for a week and a half, Misha. Could you maybe have mentioned him before he showed up?"

Misha makes a very serious face, nodding after a few long seconds. "That would have been a good idea, Jared. Excellent thinking! I'll put it in the suggestion box." He grins and claps Jared on the back, and Jared just throws his arms in the air in frustration.

"Hey, who's working register if you're both here?" Misha's eyes seem to light up. "Is Genevieve in there?"

Jared smiles to himself and shakes his head. "Haven't seen her since Tuesday, boss."

"Oh," Misha says, sounding disappointed before perking up. "Well, that's okay! I'm working on something I think she'll like. But maybe it'll be a surprise." He nods at Jensen. "You look over the horses. They shouldn't give you any trouble. They're very civilized and noble creatures."

Jared snorts, and Misha continues, "I'll leave you boys to it. There's also a winged horse named Peggy nearby. She's my ride home, so if you could look her over before the end of the day, that would be good. And also the kelpie."

"Oh, hell no!" Jared says. "You cannot be expecting Jensen to risk his life trying to perform a check up on that monster."

"Jared," Misha scolds. "Shifka is very sensitive. You'd break her heart if she heard you talking like that."

"She tried to drown Genevieve!"

Misha's eyes glaze over, his expression far, far away. "That woman is an incredibly strong swimmer," he says.

Jared sighs. "No. No way. We're not going near the kelpie."

"It's fine, Jay. I appreciate you helping me out at all. I think I can handle one kelpie on my own."

"Jensen, she is a _monster_."

Jensen shrugs. "I know their tricks, man. Not gonna be stupid enough to go all the way in the water, and she can't take me while I've got a foot on dry land."

"Yeah, but what if—?"

"I'm required to look after everyone by law. Besides, I don't believe in evil animals."

Jared shakes his head and follows Jensen to the first unicorn. It's a nice thought and all, but Jared's pretty sure Jensen will be singing a different tune by the end of the day. At any rate, Jared's ass is not going anywhere near that kelpie's lake.

It's about three hours of working with Jensen before all of Misha's precious unicorns are done, but Jared has a surprisingly good time. Jensen is funny, aside from being pretty easy to look at, and full of the kinds of useless animal facts only Jared could find interesting. And the broccoli trick he taught Jared has been pretty effective. He only gets teased five times in his head about how obviously he has the hots for Jensen.

"So, Misha really likes horses, huh?" Jensen asks as he's packing up his tools from the winged horse and getting ready to move on to the next patient in his cue.

"Don't ask me," Jared replies with a laugh. "If it were up to me, I'd ban them forever. They're all jerks."

Jensen laughs and gives Jared a pat on the shoulder. "Hey man, thanks for your help today. I've only got the kelpie left, so you can head back in."

Jared shakes his head. "I am going to go sit on that rock right there," Jared says, pointing. "So that when she tries to kill you, I can save you and then say I told you so."

Jensen waves him off. "I'm a professional."

Jared watches for 35 agonizing minutes, his arms crossed over his chest and Spyro draped over his lap as he sits on that rock and waits. The kelpie is downright demure the whole time, acting polite and obeying every little suggestion Jensen makes to her without him even having to ask twice. It's suspicious. Occasionally, Jensen blushes or tells her to behave, but Jared can't hear what she's saying. It doesn't matter. If she's not acting like a bloodthirsty fiend, that just means she's trying to charm Jensen off his guard, and Jared's not about to let that happen.

_You're really just jealous because Jensen's giving her more attention than he's given you in the last week._

Jared looks up and sees the sparkly pink unicorn Genevieve's narwhal is so enamored with standing by him. "What, are you my fucking shrink now? Get out of here."

 _I'm just trying to help._ She sticks her tongue out at him. _By the way, you smell._

"I fucking hate unicorns," Jared mutters to Spyro.

Spyro blows out a tiny flame, just to show his support.

"Still bitter over here?"

He looks up to see Jensen beaming at him, his sleeves and pants still rolled up from standing halfway in the lake. He got out alive. Jared feels himself relax. "Man, I was just looking out for your ass."

Jared immediately realizes how that could be taken (and it's not like Jensen would be wrong if he thought Jared was confessing to staring at his ass), but Jensen smirks and offers Jared a hand up. "Nah, I told you. Just gotta know how to handle them. She was awful flirtatious, though."

Jared only pouts more, and he doesn’t even care if he _is_ just jealous the stupid water horse got to flirt and all Jared gets to do is look.

"Hey, we got out alive. That's worth celebrating, right?" Jared gives him a grudging nod when Spyro headbutts his leg so he steps closer to Jensen. "Why don't you let me buy you a beer? You can show me where around here is good and I can say thanks for the help. I know spending the day helping me with unicorns probably wasn't what you pictured when you got out of bed this morning."

Jared accepts the offer and pretends to laugh off the suggestion that today was anything better than awful. All things considered, it was damn near pleasant.

"Shut up," Jensen says, his head falling back as he laughs. "God, if I hadn't met her, I'd swear you were lying."

Jared grins and shakes his head. "She's something else," he says.

"Yeah," Jensen agrees, sobering a little. "And Misha is, uh—"

"Fucking nuts?" Jared offers.

Jensen takes a long draught from his beer. "I was gonna say 'interesting,' but I think 'fucking nuts' pretty much covers it."

"It's a good thing you came along, because for a long time there, it fell on me and me alone to keep things sane," Jared says, still shaking his head. "The two of them."

"Hey, are they…?" Jensen pulls back and licks his lips, as if he's debating finishing the question. "They are dating, right?"

"What makes you ask?"

"They seem like the only two people on Earth crazy enough for each other, to be honest."

Jared manages to swallow the beer in his mouth before he gets too excited. "Right?" he exclaims. "I've been thinking that for years."

"So they aren't?"

"Nah," Jared says, pushing his drink around. "They'd be so damn perfect together."

"Well, what's the problem, then?"

Jared shrugs. "Lord knows why either of them does anything."

"How about you?" Jensen asks. "Girlfriend? Boyfriend? Both?" He waggles his eyebrows on the last one, and Jared is way too drunk and Jensen is way too pretty.

"The unicorns haven't told you about my nonexistent social life yet?"

Jensen's smile is clearly hiding something, which Jared takes to mean that they have, but he politely avoids the question. "You seem like a perfectly sociable person to me."

"Thanks," Jared replies. "That means a lot coming from a drunk guy."

"A buzzed guy," Jensen defends. "And I'm not driving any flying horses home, so I'm allowed."

"Uh huh," Jared says, nursing his beer a few seconds before feeling obligated to ask, "Your boyfriend—how did you guys meet?"

"College," Jensen answers. 

Jared waits for more details, but they don't come, so he thinks maybe Jensen's waiting to be prompted. "What's he like?"

"Matt's great," Jensen says. "He's very down-to-earth. Very logical, no nonsense, makes a lot of lists. We don't have much in common, but I guess that's what makes us work. He keeps me grounded. Helps when you're…" Jensen drifts off and takes another sip of his beer, and then he smiles without showing any teeth. "I guess you understand. Guys like us, always have our heads in the clouds. It's important to have someone who'll pull you back down."

Jared nods, even though he's not really sure he agrees with that. Then again, if Jared knew what goes into a healthy relationship, he probably wouldn't be spending his Friday night pining after some practically married man he hardly knows.

"We took a break while I was doing my DVM abroad, and I kind of thought that would be it for us. But he waited for me to get back. And it was easy. It's always been easy for us. So that's good, right?"

"Yeah," Jared agrees. "Easy is good."

Jensen purses his lips for a few moments, then looks down at his beer. "Damn, how have I almost finished another one already?"

Jared laughs, lifting his own empty cup. "I dunno. I've lost count."

"Easier to lose count when you know the other guy's paying," Jensen teases. "One more round?"

"If the mister won't mind you getting home late," Jared answers. "I've got nothing to rush for."

"Nah, he won't mind. Won't even notice I'm missing," says Jensen. He looks across the bar, raising his hand to get the waitress' attention, and signals for her to bring two more. "Tell me how you started working for Misha."

"I was a Buckeye," Jared says. "Actually, I was studying to be a vet when I first found the shop. Didn't even believe in dragons. At least not out loud."

"They were harder to find back then," Jensen says. "Man, if I'd known when I was spending all that time and money traveling around chasing creatures that they'd be fairly common in a few years."

"You don't regret it, do you?"

Jensen shakes his head. "Not a bit. I mean, it's great to see places like Misha's, don't get me wrong. But there's something about catching them in their natural habitat. Seeing the creatures that aren't supposed to exist walking around naturally instead of thanks to some scientific breakthrough." Jensen smiles wistfully. "Ah, but the money I spent."

Jared grins. "I'd like to see that someday. I did once, but I didn't believe it had really happened until I found Misha's."

"What happened?" Jensen asks.

"When I was a kid, I nearly drowned. Lake was half ice; I probably would have frozen to death before I even got a chance to run out of air. But this big bird swooped down and fished me out. Laid me down on the shore and it was so warm it thawed me in just a few seconds." Jared frowns. "Poor thing, it exploded into ashes as soon as it was sure I was okay. I think it gave that life to save me, but my parents told me I was imagining things and to be more careful next time."

"Phoenix," Jensen says, his eyes bright. "Beautiful creatures."

Jared nods. "It was damn lucky, considering how rare they are in nature."

Jensen tilts his head a little, then shakes it. "No, not luck. They know how to sniff out a good person in trouble. Nothing they do is by coincidence."

Jared feels a warm little spark in his chest and tries to put it out with a long sip from the cool beer in front of him. "Anyway, point is, I was at school when I met Misha. The store was brand new then, so he asked me to come in and work for him part time, when I wasn't in classes. But as soon as I started working I saw how much potential there was, and I started to reorganize, and there was no way to do everything that needed to be done and go to school at the same time."

Jensen nods. "So you dropped out?"

Jared hates it when people say that. It makes it sound like he gave up on something. He gets defensive. "The animals weren't getting the attention they needed when it was just Misha and me a few hours a week. I don't regret it."

"You shouldn't," Jensen says. "You do amazing work. Those are the happiest critters I've ever seen in my life."

Jared blushes. "Thanks. That, uh, that actually means a lot to me. I think my parents went into mourning when I told them I'd decided to drop out of college to run a pet store. They got over it when I told them how much Misha was paying me for it, of course."

Jensen laughs. "The guy _is_ generous."

"Pretty sure he doesn't even know what to do with all that money. He's started like 12 charities and I'm not clear on what half of them do. I think one of them just gives flowers out to people to make their days better. No joke."

"Hey, there are worse things you could do with a giant fortune than make some cool animals and give people flowers."

"I'm saying," Jared agrees easily. "Misha's a great guy, when you can catch him without the asshole unicorn entourage."

Jensen grins up at him over the checkbook as he signs, and Jared fidgets on his side of the booth. "You sure you don't want to split that?"

"Naw," Jensen says, waving Jared off. "My treat. It was nice, hanging out."

"Yeah," Jared agrees guiltily. Tonight was the best date Jared's been on in years, and he knows that wasn't what it was, but damn. "It's refreshing to have someone who doesn't want to punch me for going on about the shop all the time."

"You have this smile when you talk about the shop," Jensen says. "It's a nice smile."

Jared raises an eyebrow, and Jensen wipes his hand over his mouth. "Jesus," he says. "Maybe I _am_ drunk."

Jared laughs. "We should probably call it a night."

"Yeah." Jensen nods. "I really oughta get back before the ol' ball and chain gets worried."

"Thought you said he wouldn't even know you were missing," Jared says, trying to sound playful.

Jensen frowns just a bit. "Some things he won’t mind, and some things he will," he says, standing and grabbing his jacket off the booth seat. "You walking? I go that way."

Jensen points a thumb over his shoulder, and Jared fights a laugh. "West," he says, then shakes his head. "Think I'm gonna stay here a while longer and finish my drink."

"You don't mind staying alone?"

"I know the bartender," Jared says. "He'll call me a cab if I get sloppy. You go on home."

Jensen smiles and claps him on the back as he leaves. "I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Tomorrow," Jared agrees quietly, but Jensen doesn't hear it. He's already halfway to the door.

"You're not nervous about this, right?"

Jared looks down at the dragon he's holding in his lap and swallows the lump in his throat. "Nope. Not nervous. Not at all. What makes you think I'm nervous?"

Jensen smiles. "It's gonna be fine, man. I think you're suffering more than he's going to."

Jared nods. He likes Jensen, and he trusts Jensen. He's spent weeks watching Jensen work, so he knows the guy is competent. And he's been telling Jared for nearly a month now that this isn't going to be a big deal.

So why does Jared still feel like he might hyperventilate?

Spyro turns, angling his head around his shoulder to catch Jared's eyes. Jared may be imagining it, or projecting his feelings onto the dragon, but he looks scared, too, and like he's depending on Jared to let him know it's alright.

"It's okay, boy. You'll be okay." Jared slips a finger under his chin and tickles his scales.

"Don't look at him," Jensen tells Jared, setting some distressingly sharp tools aside on the table he's set up. "It's going to look worse than it is."

"Jensen," Jared says. "Those don't look like the kinds of things you use for a completely painless—"

"Talk to me," he tells Jared. "Don't look at him, look at me."

"I don’t know what to talk about," Jared admits. "All I can think of is—"

"First time in your life you don't have anything to say," Jensen jokes with a fond smile. He reaches out and takes Jared's hand, squeezing it firmly. "Eyes on me, Jay."

Jared doesn't quite look up at Jensen, but he finally manages to take his eyes away from Spyro's outstretched wing. Jensen's fingers are warm and strong around Jared's hand, and he blushes, thinking that Jensen has probably been holding on a few seconds too long.

When he looks up, Jensen pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, taking his hand away and turning his back on Jared quickly. "I'm thinking of getting a pet," he says conversationally. "Now that Matt and I are both pretty much settled into our new place."

"Oh," Jared says stupidly. "What kind?"

Jensen faces Jared and grins. "I figured you're the specialist. You should be telling me."

"The hedgies like you." Jared sits and considers that for a few seconds before adding, "Well, I guess all the animals like you."

"I was thinking something simple," Jensen says. "Snow globe, maybe?"

"We do have polar bears and arctic foxes," Jared says. He frowns. Jensen doesn't seem like the kind of person who would want a simple pet. "You sure you don't want something a little more involved?"

"Matt's not really into animals," Jensen admits. "Kind of the one thing we're always at odds on. I mean, he doesn't dislike them. But I doubt he'd thank me for bringing home a direwolf."

"Right. Matt." Jared does his best to sound cheerful, "I don't know him, so I can't say for sure. But I bet we have something here that's just right for him."

"Yeah," Jensen says. "Maybe I'll bring him by sometime. See if he falls in love with anything."

"Do that." Jared smiles, hoping he doesn't look like he's considering calling in dead that day. "No reason you guys can't find a nice middle ground."

"He's a dentist," Jensen tells Jared. Because Jared must look like he wants nothing in the world more than to hear about Jensen's perfect, pet-hating boyfriend. "Don't imagine we sell anything that smells like toothpaste?"

Jared laughs. "Maybe stick to the snow globes after all. Can't think of many pets that smell minty and fresh."

"A nice little polar bear, though. For his office maybe? Just to get him used to the idea, and then we can move on to something bigger?"

Jared makes a pensive face. "It would have extra whitening."

Jensen laughs, giving Jared a squeeze on the shoulder. "Good, that was good."

"What was good?" Jared asks, feeling his eyebrows draw together. "Don't tell me my dentist pun amused you that much, because if it did, I'm gonna ask you to get some more sleep before you operate on my dragon."

Jensen looks so amused he might burst out laughing any second. "Jared, the surgery is done. You talked right through it."

Jared looks down at his lap, and, sure enough, Spyro's wing has a bandage taped around it. He never even made a sound.

"That really was easy!" Jared says, picking Spyro up and cuddling him into his chest. "You feelin' alright, boy? Did Jensen make you all big and strong?"

Spyro replies by crawling up on Jared's head. Which is pretty much his default setting anyway.

"Jensen, man, how am I ever gonna thank you for this?"

"Don't mention it," he says, laughing. "It's very literally my job."

"Yeah, but now he's gonna be able to fly! How long?"

Jensen pets Spyro between the ears and then squeezes the tuft on his tail. Jared feels the wave of contentedness as it vibrates through the dragon. "Healing should only take a few days. Maybe give it a week to be safe. Then he'll find a home just as fast as the rest of 'em did."

Jared frowns, feeling his heart fall through his chest. That never occurred to him. Why did that never occur to him?

"Hey, what's wrong?" Jensen asks as soon as he gets a look at Jared's face.

"He's gonna sell," Jared says stupidly. "Oh god, I'm such an idiot. How did I let myself get this attached to something I'm supposed to sell?"

Jensen takes a seat next to Jared. "You really love the animals you work with. That doesn't make you an idiot, Jared. I think it makes you great at what you do."

"The point remains that I don't wanna let him go."

"Why don't you adopt him, then?" Jensen suggests. "I've never seen a dragon love one person so much. They're usually little attention whores. Spyro wouldn't be as happy with some stranger, either."

Jared sighs and shakes his head. "Nah, I can't. I rent and my landlord doesn't want me to have more than three pets. Not to mention the face he gave me when I tried to suggest bringing home a dragon. I tried to tell him Spyro's flame-trained and dragons have been vastly misrepresented by popular culture but it fell on deaf ears."

"Oh," Jensen says. "You never told me you had pets."

"Pet, really. I also tried explaining that Harley, Sadie, and Oscar should all count as one dog, but he was just not buying it."

Jensen grins. "I can totally see you with a little pack of dogs at your heels," he says. "Tell me about them. What kinds of dogs are they?"

"Mutts, the lot of 'em. And they're insufferable. They bark for ten minutes every time someone comes in or out and don't let me sleep ever, but I love the little shits."

Jensen laughs. "Sounds about right." He sobers a little. "I just wish you could keep Spyro."

"Yeah," Jared says sadly, looking down at his hands. "Me too."

"Maybe…maybe I could adopt him," Jensen suggests. "It's not the same as you getting him, but it's a way to be sure you'll get to see him."

"I thought you said Matt—"

"I can bring him to work with me every day. That way you get to see him and he's not in Matt's hair unless I'm home to take care of him." Jensen smiles. "If you don't mind, that is."

Jared reaches out and pulls Jensen into a suffocating hug before he can even think to stop himself. But hey, Jensen doesn't complain.

Jensen calls early the next morning to tell Jared he won't be by until about noon, so Jared's not exactly expecting company when Jensen walks in.

Jared is on his hands and his knees, crawling his way past some of the empty chairs near the phoenix cages. "Where are you, girl? I can't find you anywhere."

"Uh, Jared?"

Jared looks up, feeling his cheeks burn. "Oh, Jensen. Hi."

Jensen is staring down at him with a quizzical expression. "Who're you looking for down there?"

"Sphinx," Jared admits.

"Sphinx is sitting right next to your hand," Jensen tells him, pointing.

The cat purrs contentedly by his side, probably just to make the whole thing even more embarrassing. Jared wishes the floor would swallow him as he mumbles, "She's decided she's invisible today."

"Right," Jensen says, drawing it out.

Jared pushes up to his feet and wipes his hands off on his pants. "Thought you were gonna be out today."

Jensen smiles. "Actually, I've come with some great news. I got Matt on board with me adopting Spyro, so I brought him over to introduce them."

"Matt's here?" Jared asks, trying to keep his voice in check. It figures that Jensen's perfect, pet-hating boyfriend would grace the store with his presence just in time to catch Jared playing hide-and-go-seek with a delusional cat.

"Actually." Jensen pauses, shifting his weight and frowning at the floor. "He's outside."

"He can't see the store," Jared guesses, before he realizes it's kind of a rude thing to assume.

Jensen bites his bottom lip and shrugs. "Do you mind if I take Spyro out for a few minutes? Just long enough for them to get to know each other."

"No, of course not," Jared says, though it takes a little extra effort to get Spyro out of his kennel and hand him over.

He doesn't mind sharing with Jensen. But some jerk who doesn't even believe enough to see the store? Jared can't help doubting that Matt is supportive of Jensen. He can't help doubting that the guy deserves either Spyro or Jensen. But he gives Jensen a forced smile and pats Spyro on the head as Jensen take him into his arms. His thoughts sure do get ugly when he's jealous.

Jensen can tell that Jared's smile is full of shit, but thankfully, he misinterprets it. "I know you're worried about him," Jensen says reassuringly. "But I'm gonna take good care of him."

"I know," Jared says in a strained voice.

Jensen stands there kind of stupidly for a few seconds, Spyro's tail flicking against his chest. Finally he says, "Hey, do you wanna meet Matt?"

He doesn't seem particularly thrilled by the offer and even has the good sense not to staple on _I bet you two will really hit it off_ , but it feels like the offer he had to make and Jared knows that without any customers in the shop, he's got no grounds for refusal.

"Sure," Jared replies, grinning. "Sounds great."

He follows Jensen out to the shop front, where a guy in a blue and pink plaid shirt is standing, talking on his cell phone. He turns when he hears the door open and dismisses the person on the phone, giving Jensen and Jared a smile and gesturing for them to hold on a second.

Matt has black hair and is built like a statue. He's fucking gorgeous. Not Jensen gorgeous, but definitely pretty gorgeous. Of course. Not that Jared's surprised, but he really didn't need the confirmation.

He hangs up the phone, rising to give Jensen a kiss before smiling down at the dragon in his boyfriend's arms. "And who is this?"

"This is Spyro," Jensen tells him. "What do you think?"

"Aww, he's actually kind of cute after all," Matt says, grabbing the end of Spyro's tail and squeezing it. Spyro doubles over, opening his mouth and hissing at Matt.

Jared just loves that little dragon. "You shouldn't squeeze his tail so hard," Jared says. "It hurts them. They like a soft squeeze, or a tickle on the bottom of it."

Matt looks up from Spyro to Jensen and then to Jared, smiling out of one side of his mouth. "You must be Jared," he says, holding a hand out. "That sounds like something Jared would say."

Jared takes the hand, raising an eyebrow at Jensen. "I see my reputation has preceded me."

"All good things," Matt assures him. "Jensen can't stop talking about you. Kind of thing that could make a guy jealous."

Jared wonders if he imagines how tight the grip Matt has on him is, because his face is perfectly easy and content. Either way, Jared shakes quickly and snatches his hand back. He looks over and sees that Jensen's ears are turning red and maybe feels just the littlest bit smug.

"He talks about you all the time too," Jared tells him, because he knows that's what he's supposed to say. Really, Jensen almost seems hesitant to talk to Jared about Matt most of the time, unless Jared brings him up. "Nice to finally put a face to the name."

"Yeah, right back at you."

At that moment, to Jared's incredible relief, a portly woman in a big brown coat and a pink hat starts heading for the store. Jared gives Jensen and Matt an apologetic look. "Seems I've got a customer to take care of," he says to them, giving Spyro a quick pat on the head. "You take good care of him, you hear?"

Matt nods, and Jared rushes ahead to hold the door open for the woman.

Jensen comes in twenty minutes later, Spyro pattering cheerfully at his heels, and gives Jared a friendly wave of acknowledgement to let him know he's on the clock when he sees that Jared's still helping the patron.

"They just look so cramped in there," the woman is saying, holding up a lantern for inspection. "Are you sure they're comfortable?"

"Actually, ma'am, these kinds of dragons were first documented in the forests of ancient coastal India. According to the legends, they were discovered living in tiny gaps in trees in the forests, habitually seeking out cramped little places for their homes." 

Jared grins and leans over the counter, opening the door on the closest lantern and carefully removing the dragon curled up inside. It immediately resettles around his finger.

"See how he looks for something to hug his body around?"

The woman makes a delighted sound. "Why, he looks like he's trying to cuddle. Lindsay will love that."

Jared grins and stretches out his hand so she can take it if she wants. She pets it first, then seems to gain confidence and accepts the dragon from Jared. "Truth is, if you try putting them in a container too big for them to press against every side they cry nonstop and eventually lose the ability to create flame."

"Interesting," she says, eyes glued to the dragon in her hand.

Jared smiles. "They first started living in lanterns shortly after they were discovered. The Hindus would make each dragon a lantern and the dragons would light them and carry them during Diwali, then keep them to live in. It was a kind of trade off in that region, at least until the dragons started to die out and became too rare to depend on for the celebration."

The woman frowns. "What happened to them?"

Jared raises his hands. "Climate change, killed off by people, food sources depleted. The theories are endless, and, of course, it's hard to study something so hard to find most people don't even believe it ever existed."

"Oh, that's too bad," she says. "Are they extinct now? In nature, I mean. Obviously they're thriving in here."

"No one knows for sure," Jared says. "They don't get spotted much, but I like to think they just learned to hide better."

Jensen slides in next to Jared behind the register and gives the woman a sly smile. "I know a guy who saw a few living in a temple in Orissa. If you believe him, that is."

"I believe him," Jared says, giving Jensen a warm smile. "Doris, this is our medical expert, Jensen. Jensen, Doris here is looking for a great birthday present for her niece. I recommended a lantern dragon, but she's not so sure. You wanna weigh in?"

"Jared's awfully good at what he does, ma'am," Jensen drawls, winking at Jared in a way that shoots heat right through him.

"I don't doubt that," Doris replies. "It just seems careless to give a fire-breathing animal to an eleven-year-old."

Jensen smiles, so Jared sits back. Apparently he's got this one. "These dragons can only produce as much fire as your average match. Enough to light a candle, sure, but not enough to do much damage. What most people don't know is that they also swallow fire, so they're actually more useful for stopping dangerous blazes than starting them. Anything they spit out, they will inevitably take back in, and if, god forbid, there's ever a fire in the house, these little guys are good to have around. They'll get nice and fat swallowing it all up for you. Worst thing that'll happen is you'll have to upsize their lamps."

"Well that's fascinating," she says.

Jensen nods. "Another cool thing is that they drink the candle wax as it melts. It's very good for them and means the cleanup is minimal. They're a great starter pet for a kid or someone who doesn't have enough time to commit to more demanding animals."

"Hell," says Doris, "I guess I'm sold. But you better grab me another one, because this little guy is mine."

Jared grins from ear to ear and pulls down a rainbow-scaled lantern dragon, setting it down next to the red one Doris is helping back into its lamp. He gives her basic care instructions as well as some handouts for her niece and tells her to come back any time, and she's on her way home within five minutes.

Jensen leans back against the counter and smiles at him. "You know your next sale is gonna be Spyro, right?"

Jared shakes his head. "As if I'm gonna charge you for taking in my baby."

"How much do you cost this store being nice to people?" Jensen asks watching Jared out of the corner of his eye.

"Oh, like Misha needs more money," Jared says, looking down at the quiet cooing he can hear at their feet.

Spyro is attached to Jensen's leg, trying to crawl up him by the fabric of his pants, and Jared laughs, detaching the dragon and setting it on his shoulder before he tears any holes in Jensen's clothing. Not that that would actually be a bad thing.

 _Boyfriend_ says a reprimanding little voice in the back of Jared's mind.

Jared coughs. "Matt seemed nice."

"Yeah, he's nice," Jensen says tightly. "Look, I know that wasn't a great impression, him not being able to see the store, but—"

"But he's reasonable and this isn't," Jared says. "And that's why you work. You don't have to convince me."

"It wasn't you I was trying to convince," Jensen admits. He stares at Jared intensely for a few long seconds, then shakes his head and turns away. "I'm gonna go…take care of…something."

Spyro makes a sound and pushes his head into Jared's cheek supportively, and Jared reaches his hand back to pet the dragon, wishing he were allowed to kiss that bummed expression off Jensen's face.

"You take good care of him, too," Jared tells Spyro. "Don't chew up his pillows just for attention, okay?" The dragon lets out a noncommittal noise, licking Jared's palm. "Unless they're Matt's," he adds. "Then go to town."

Jared gets the call two weeks later while he's cleaning out the color-shifting griffin cages. His first thought is that it's weird to hear his cell phone ringing at all—he usually gets calls directly to the store, on the rare occasion he gets any—and he swears he hears a unicorn snicker at that from outside.

More broccoli in his diet, he reminds himself as he flips it open and accepts the call.

"Hello?" he says.

The line is quiet for a few seconds, and Jared would hang up if he didn't hear a sniff and finally a weak little, "Jared?"

It's Jensen's voice, but he sounds broken, not at all the playful, snarky tone Jared is used to. He can't help the panic that seizes up inside of him. "Jen? What's up? Are you okay? Is Spyro okay?"

"I…yeah, I guess I am," he says. Another sniff, but no more information.

"What’s going on, Jensen?"

"I don't know what to do," Jensen says, his voice trembling. "Jay, I don't know what to do."

"Okay, calm down," he says. "What's wrong? Where are you? I can come get you. Whatever's going on, I'll be right there, Jen."

"I'm right outside the store," Jensen says. "On the steps. I think."

"Well, why don't you come in and I'll make you some coffee and we can talk?"

Jared can practically hear Jensen shake his head. When he responds, his voice has climbed a few octaves. He's damn near hysterical. "I can't," he says. "I can't see the shop."

A chill runs through Jared and he nearly drops the phone. He wants to ask just what the hell Jensen means by that, but there's no time. Whatever it is, it's not good.

"I'll be right there," Jared says, hanging up the phone and sliding it onto the counter. He hurries outside and finds Jensen sitting on the stoop as advertised, his face buried in his hands.

Jared sits down right next to him and slides a hand onto his back. "Hey man, you alright?"

"Not really," Jensen says, sounding shaken. He lifts his face, and Jared can see from the red in his eyes that he's been crying.

"Jesus, man, what happened?"

"Matt and I broke up," Jensen says.

Jared's heart sinks, and he can't help hating himself, because it rises at the same time.

"What, uh," Jared frowns, trying to find a delicate way to ask, "what happened?"

"He cheated on me." Jensen barks out a nasty sound that Jared thinks is supposed to be a laugh. "That makes it sound like it was one time, past tense, right? Nope. I caught him with some girl and after enough yelling, he decided to let me know he's been doing it for—for years. He wasn't even sorry about it. He didn't even have the goddamn decency to seem sorry. He said it was 'too easy to cheat on a guy who doesn't pay attention to reality.' And he was right, because the signs must have been there this whole time and I never saw them. I never even thought to suspect it, let alone look for signs. I just trusted him to—"

Jensen stops talking then and Jared pulls him in for a tight hug. He holds Jensen against his chest, tries to ignore the crying he can hear and how each sound Jensen makes is stabbing into his heart.

"He's a bastard," Jared says, hoping that's the kind of thing Jensen wants to hear right now. He strokes a hand into Jensen's hair and makes a soothing noise. "I'm so sorry, Jensen."

Jensen is shaking as he pulls away. "I just don't understand how he could do that. We've been together since college. Since college. He could have just dumped me any time. It's not like…" Jensen stops to lick his lips, his eyes lingering on Jared's before he cuts his glance toward the sidewalk. "It's not like I haven’t been attracted to other people. It's not like I haven't been tempted—but I never would have done that to him. I was fucking good to him. I wasted seven years of my life with that jerk, and he's been fucking around for most of it. How could I have been so stupid?"

"You're not stupid," Jared says. "You're—"

"I believed in him. So much, Jared. I thought we really had something. I'm an idiot of truly astounding proportions. And now—the worst part is I…I can't..."

Jensen's words falter and he hiccups a sob, but he doesn't need to finish. Jared gets it. "Now you can't believe in anything."

Jensen nods sadly, a tear slipping down his cheek, and Jared gets the urge to hunt Matt down and pound his pretty face in for taking that from Jensen. But since that doesn't seem like a viable option, Jared squeezes Jensen's shoulder instead. "Wait here a second."

Jensen's fingers stay curled in Jared's shirt, so Jared carefully pulls them away, squeezing Jensen's hands as he places them in Jensen's lap. "Just a second, I promise."

Jared runs back into the shop and looks around. He sees Sphinx, carefully perched atop the cash register, as if she's trying to find a way to leap all the way across the room and into the bird cages. For all Jared knows, she probably thinks she can just fly there.

It's exactly what Jensen needs right now. Jared sweeps her into his arms and goes back outside as quickly as he can, depositing her into Jensen's lap. Jensen seems shocked, but he looks down at her with a slippery smile and strokes a hand down her spine. She mews appreciatively.

"Jared, not for nothing, but I don't know if petting a cat is going to repair seven years of a broken heart right now."

 _Baby steps, Jensen_ , Jared thinks. First he's going to help Jensen see the store again. Jared will be more than happy to work on the heart when Jensen's ready for that.

"What do you see?" Jared asks, pointing to Sphinx.

"Sphinx?" Jensen says, sounding lost.

"Right, well, okay, yes. But what is Sphinx."

Jensen shrugs. "A cat."

"What kind of cat?"

"I don't know," Jensen replies, sounding annoyed. "Just a regular ass cat, Jared. Look I'm not—"

"I think she's a lion," Jared says.

Jensen's eyebrows draw together, and he looks from Jared down at the cat now lying prostrate on her back in Jensen's lap, purring contentedly. "She'd certainly like to think so."

Jared draws closer, so the side of his body is pressed along Jensen's. "Come on, Jen. She's a lion."

Jensen laughs, rolling his eyes. "She's Aslan," he says.

"Talking and all."

"But not tame," Jensen replies, an actual smile sneaking onto his face. "She's a mighty hunter."

"Oh, you know it," Jared says encouragingly.

"Mice and antelope and naughty children live in fear of her wrath."

Sphinx turns over onto her feet and rises, letting out what might pass for a mighty roar on a planet where cute, purring cats are terrifying.

"I think she wants to go home," Jared says, turning to throw a glance over his shoulder. The shop is there, same as it's always been.

Jensen takes Jared's hand as if he doesn't even know he's doing it and lets out a tiny gasp of excitement as he follows Jared's gaze.

"You see it, don't you?" Jared asks.

"I see it," he confirms. "I see it, Jared."

"Good." Jared stands, holding Jensen's hand in his as long as he can get away with it. "Let's take her home, then."

Jensen smiles and nods.

Three months into working with Jensen, Jared is pretty much ready to admit he's completely stupid head-over-heels for the guy. Okay, three months is kind of soon to be calling himself a goner, but Jensen is basically perfect and around all the time, and already Jared has no idea how the shop ever functioned without him.

Problem is, now everything at work just kind of rubs it in. Jared can't have five minutes to himself without being reminded that Jensen is walking around being all flawless and recently single. Jared's pretty sure guys like Jensen don't stay single long, but he's also got no clue what the proper waiting period is after a seven year relationship blows up.

Right now it's the songbirds making Jared's life harder. They're singing "Green Eyes" to Jensen, and Jared doesn't even like Coldplay—didn't even think he liked Coldplay—but damn does their stupid song seem insightful right about now. They finish off, the birds singing the vocals giving way to the instrumental ones until they fade out, and Jensen claps for them, turning to Jared with a delighted expression.

"Did you hear that?" he calls to Jared. He looks back to the birds before Jared can answer, which is good, because Jared needs a few more minutes to switch out of creepy-glazed-over-staring mode. "Y'all sounded lovely."

The birds chirp gratefully at the praise, ruffling their feathers up. They deserve it, they did sound pretty good; they've been holding rehearsals for a few days now. Jared's pretty sure they've got a crush on Jensen, just like the kelpie and the hedgies and Jared and every other animal on the planet because Jensen is goddamn _wonderful_. He wears bowties, for fuck's sake. _Bowties_. Who even does that?

"Earth to Jared."

Jared blinks a few times and realizes there's a hand waving in front of his eyes.

"Are you alive in there?"

"Oh, hello, Genevieve," Jared says dreamily.

"There's a dragon spooning your face, man."

Jared shakes his head a bit and finds that, yes, there is indeed a dragon spooning his face. God knows how long it's been there. He carefully wraps his hands around Spyro's middle and pulls him away. If he didn't like sitting on Jared's head enough before, he's pretty much designated it his resting post since he learned how to fly.

Genevieve sighs. "Jared, you're being a bad friend. Can you please just sleep with him so I can have attention again?"

"Shh," says Jared. "He'll hear you."

"Oh, for the love of Sharktopus, you don't actually think you're being subtle, do you?"

Jared coughs. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"

Genevieve gets all giddy then, grabbing Jared's hand. "Come see," she says, tugging. "Come see what Misha's made. It's amazing. It's the most amazing thing ever. Its perfection cannot be expressed by words."

Jared rolls his eyes, but he has spent the better part of two months wondering what Misha's hiding up his sleeve, so he lets her guide him around the counter and toward the backdoor. "Jensen," he yells. "I'm going out back for a little while. Mind handling register?"

"Got it," Jensen shouts back.

Jared turns to Genevieve. "He's so helpful."

"You are pathetic," she says, though her eyes get just as starry as Jared's were when they step into Misha's laboratory and she shows him the tank she's so excited about.

Jared snorts. "You didn't."

"A zoo, Jared!" she says, running around to stare at the other side and then coming back. "It's a whole zoo."

"Farm is what I was gonna say," Jared replies. "Tomato, tomahto, I guess."

A cow walks up to the glass near where Jared is standing and opens its mouth. The bubble that emerges floats to the top, then pops, emitting a belated moo. "Sea cow," Jared says. "Cute."

"And sea monkeys. And sea lions. Dog fish. Cat fish." Genevieve claps her hands and looks like it's taking everything in her not to jump up and down. "Look at the teeny tiny sea hawks."

"I'm still working on developing the roosterfish," Misha says, coming around and wiping greasy hands off on a towel. "They're going to crow when the other fish should wake up."

"Fish don't sleep," Jared replies stupidly.

Genevieve and Misha exchange looks, and Genevieve walks out muttering, "Some people have no vision."

Jared watches her leave, then gives Misha a knowing glance. "A whole sea farm just to impress a girl, huh?"

Misha shrugs. "She does like it, right? She wasn't just pretending so my feelings won't be hurt?"

Jared snorts. "Yeah, man. She likes it." He punches Misha lightly on the shoulder. "She likes you, too, you know. You could've just asked her out to dinner."

Misha shakes his head. "I don't know how to talk to women," he says matter-of-factly.

Jared hears a disgruntled neigh from somewhere in the lab, and Misha amends his statement. "I'm sorry, Sylvia, you're absolutely right." He looks back at Jared. "I don't know how to talk to human women. Unicorns, yes. Pretty girls, not so much."

"Just tell her you like her. I promise she likes you, too. There's nothing to worry about. It couldn't be more obvious."

"You're one to talk," Misha replies grumpily. "Tell me again why everyone in the store and their mother knows about your feelings for Jensen except for Jensen."

"That's totally different," Jared protests. "Jensen is dealing with a break up. He's vulnerable. He's not ready for another relationship yet. Besides, I don't even think he sees me like that."

"Now we're both missing the obvious," Misha says.

Jared grunts. The door opens and Genevieve steps in with Jensen on her heels. "I hear you've decided to make my job a little harder," Jensen is saying, smiling easily at Misha and then turning his attention to the tank. He lets out an impressed whistle and shakes his head. "Guess I have a whole lot of new tricks to learn."

He looks up at Jared, smiling like the huge inconvenience is exactly what he wanted out of his day, and Jared can't even stand him.

Next to him, Misha turns his attention to Genevieve. "Would you like to get dinner with me sometime?" he says in a rush. "Possibly tonight, even. Unless that's moving too fast. I don't have plans tomorrow night, either. Or the day after. The day after would be good."

A small smile slowly works its way onto Genevieve's face, as if she's surprised but delighted by the offer. "That would be lovely," she says.

"What, really?" Misha asks before trying to play it cool, "I mean, yeah. Good. We can take my flying horse. I know a great place."

"Seafood?"

"Of course not!" Misha replies. "Not a dead animal on the menu."

She grins and nods her head at the door, and Misha does a subdued dance before following after her. He slaps Jared on the back and leans in close, whispering, "Okay, buddy. Your move."

Jensen follows them out with his eyes, then smiles at Jared. "There's a happy ending for you."

Jared nods and wonders if now is his moment. "Hey, Jensen?"

"Yeah?" Jensen replies, still smiling.

The thing is, Jensen really loves his job. And Jared really loves that he loves his job, and for a horrifying moment, he wonders if maybe Jared asking him out would make Jensen uncomfortable when even an underwater zoo couldn't. "Nothing, never mind."

"You sure?" Jensen frowns a bit, looking expectant.

"It was stupid," he says. "I think I'm gonna go close up the shop."

"Okay," Jensen says quietly. "See you tomorrow, Jay."

"Don't stay in here all night geeking out over the animals. Get some sleep."

Jensen laughs and raises two middle fingers.

"She's faking it," Jared tells Jensen, following on his heels. "I'm telling you, I saw her two hours ago and she was fine."

Jensen sighs. "Jay, come on. You know I have to check it out just to be sure."

"She just wants attention. Your attention specifically."

Jensen shrugs. "Probably," Jensen admits. "Doesn't mean I can just brush it off."

Jared heaves a mighty sigh. "If you die, it'll be your own fault. I'll laugh at your funeral."

"You'll cry like a bitch and you know it," Jensen answers, pushing the door open and stepping outside.

Jared watches him leave and then turns on his heels, walking sulkily to the counter. He manages to spend twenty minutes in suspense, looking out the window every five seconds to make sure Jensen isn't drowning yet, before he gives up.

Okay, so Jensen stays on solid ground and is an expert and knows what he's doing, blahdy blah. But that kelpie is one crazy mother.

He huddles the hedgies all together, patting at stray leaves encouragingly, and leads them outside for their daily walk an hour and 45 minutes earlier than usual. They don't seem to mind, immediately taking root in the soil by the footpath and making content sounds as they follow Jared into the yard. He sends a glance toward the lake. Jensen happens to look over right in that moment, so Jared lifts a hand in a wave, then turns back to his plants, pretending to be very distracted.

He hears the cry less than a minute later, followed by a loud splash of water, and Jared's pretty sure his heart falls right through his chest. "Jensen," he cries, before looking to see the water swallowing the very top of Jensen's head.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Jared growls, making a dash to the lake and jumping in. He pauses just before he does so, remembering something Jensen told him months ago, the first time they came out here together, when Jared went on his first rant about Shifka and her tendency to try to kidnap people.

_If you're so scared of her, just make sure you carry some kind of land plant whenever you go near the lake. If they taste something that grew on dry land, they immediately try to spit it out. Let go of whoever they're holding onto in the process._

Jared stoops to pull a few blades of grass loose and holds them tight in his fist as he dives under. The water is clear, clear enough that Jared can open his eyes without burning them. The kelpie has her teeth in Jensen, and Jared feels panic when he sees the small red cloud of blood floating around Jensen's body. But Jensen is still struggling, and that's slowing Shifka down. Jared can reach them in just a few seconds, he's pretty sure.

He kicks his feet a little faster, reaching out to pull Jensen free with one hand as he tries to get close to the kelpie's mouth with the other. The thing does its best to snarl at him without opening its mouth, but Jared keeps at it until finally he manages to push a blade in past the creature's lips. The response is immediate. Shifka opens up and Jared shoves the rest of the grass in his hand into her open mouth, hoping that'll buy a few more seconds for him and Jensen to swim free.

He grabs Jensen, not even thinking to check if the guy can still swim, and kicks for the surface. He's already running short on air, and Jensen's been under even longer.

Jared feels at least some of the tension ease out of him when they hit the top of the lake and Jensen takes one big gasping breath.

"I'm gonna kill you," Jared manages, before he continues to drag Jensen, swimming to shore as quickly as he can.

They make it. If Shifka's recovered from the grass, she's either too far behind or too traumatized to try her attack again, and Jared manages to pull Jensen up onto the shore and drag him a few feet away from the lake, just to be safe.

By now Misha and Genevieve have both realized something is up. Genevieve is standing by, holding her phone up. Jared doesn't even have to tell her to call an ambulance, she dials as soon as she sees that Jensen is bleeding.

"Jesus," Misha says. "What happened?"

"I'm gonna kill your fucking kelpie is what happened," Jared snaps. He turns to Jensen, slapping Jensen's face until Jensen opens his eyes and looks at him. "Jensen? Are you okay? Say something."

"Ow," Jensen says. He tries to sit up, then stops himself. "Really ow."

"Dude."

Jensen looks down at his side, his eyes widening. "I'm bleeding."

"Yeah, that's what happens," Jared replies.

"Am I dying?"

Jared can't even believe it, but the question startles a laugh out of him. "If you die over this scrape, you will be the biggest wimp in history. I'll never stop making fun of you."

"I don't wanna die," Jensen says. His eyes lose focus, and Jared sighs.

"Oh, that's great." He shakes Jensen. "You've lost a lot of blood and went without air for a while. You're probably feeling weak. Just, uh, hold on, okay? There's an ambulance coming."

"Mmmhmm," Jensen says. He grins woozily at Jared. "Don't let me die without kissing you, okay? If it looks like I'm gonna die, just lay one on me."

Jared holds Jensen's head carefully as Jensen's eyes slip closed and it begins to droop. "Yeah, okay. I promise."

He presses a kiss to Jensen's wet forehead, and then the paramedics are surrounding him, tearing Jensen away.

Jensen steps behind the counter and leans his back against it, facing Jared. Jared gives him a nod of acknowledgement, then turns toward him. "How was the first day back?"

"Fine," Jensen grumbles. He's been pretty quiet since he arrived this morning, especially around Jared. "Just locked down the kennels, so. Made it through the day alive."

"So much less funny in retrospect," Jared says. He licks his lips. "Last week. When I fished you out."

Jensen groans. "Listen, man, I was pretty out of it. I'm sorry."

"You remember what you said, then?"

"Yeah, I remember," Jensen admits. "Like I said, I'm sorry."

"Would you still be sorry if I asked you to dinner?"

Jensen's eyes narrow, his face unreadable as he replies, "I nearly let a kelpie drown me and now you ask me out? I've been waiting for like a month, and all I had to do was almost win a Darwin Award?"

Jared grins. "Well, I wasn't sure you'd say yes until you were rambling about wanting to kiss me."

Jensen's face starts turning pink, and he looks down at the floor. "I'd like to date you," he says. "I'd very much like that."

Jared slips his hand into Jensen's and tips Jensen's chin up. "We won't screw this up," he says. "If it doesn't work out, we call it quits before anyone gets hurt? That way we can still—"

"I already got hurt," Jensen jokes, shaking Jared's hand away and lifting his shirt enough for Jared to see the bandages all up his side.

"Not laughing," Jared replies.

Jensen drops his shirt and shakes his head, leaning both elbows on the countertop. "Can I be honest?"

Jared nods.

"I don't think I can do this and promise not to get hurt. I really like you." He gives Jared a weak smile. "But, uh, I'm not sure I can just not try, either. I don't want to do that. I want to be stupid and take reckless chances and maybe get my heart broken. A month ago, I never would have thought I'd be willing to do that again, but with you?" He shakes his head. "I don't even miss Matt. Not a drop. You're all I've thought about since we broke up." He scratches the back of his neck and looks away guiltily. "For some time before that, too."

"Yeah?" Jared asks.

Jensen reaches up to brush a hair away from Jared's face and the corners of his lips turn up. "Yeah."

"Good," Jared says. "Because I already have dinner set up at my place. It woulda been real awkward to go home alone to that."

Jensen chuckles, his eyebrows drawing together. "You've been here all day. How the hell did you manage to set dinner up?"

"I guess Misha feels guilty about that time his kelpie tried to murder you."

Jensen barks out a laugh. "When you put it like that…"

Jared smiles. "So I'll close down shop and then we can walk over?"

Jensen purses his lips. "You think I'm just gonna go home with you like that? How easy do I look?"

"Whoa, don't go flattering yourself, buddy," Jared replies, giving Jensen a quick pat on the ass. "I asked you over to eat. Completely innocent."

"Right, right." Jensen takes a step closer to Jared. "And you just assumed I'd say yes?"

"Sure did. And you proved me right." He grins, leaning in, and pressing a quick, chaste kiss against the mouth he's been dreaming of for months. "That's in case something goes horribly wrong on the way. Don't want you to die without kissing me, after all."

Jensen gives Jared a naughty smile, pulling him in for a deeper kiss by the back of his neck. "I don't imagine there's any amount of sex I can bribe you with to make you forget I said any of that."

"I'm sure there's _some_ amount," Jared answers. "But you'll be mighty sore after."

"I'm already sore," Jensen grumbles. "Better if I at least get laid in the deal."

They walk home, slowed by the fact that Jensen's still not 100%, but the conversation is good, and their fingers don't untangle once the whole way. Of course, it's only a block. That's the blessing and the curse of working at Misha's.

"This is it," Jared says when they reach his building. "I'm on the top floor."

"Right window," Jensen says.

"Yeah," Jared replies. "How'd you know?"

"Oh, I used to be a detective before I got into animals."

Jared takes a step back caught completely off guard, and Jensen laughs at him. "It's the only window with three canine faces staring out of it, genius."

"Right. That." Jared unlocks the door and ushers Jensen inside, giving him a swift kick in the ass that makes Jensen yelp as he steps past the threshold. "We don't have an elevator. Think you can make it up the stairs, or am I gonna have to carry you?"

"I'll take my chances with the stairs."

The dogs are already scratching at the door and barking by the time they make it to the second story, and Jared unlocks the door.

"You weren't joking about them, huh?" Jensen asks.

Jared just grins and lets the door swing open. Harley, Sadie, and Oscar immediately jump up, two giant paws settling on Jared's chest and nearly pushing him back into Jensen.

Jensen cracks up. "Oh, duh," he says, still laughing. "You _would_ have a three-headed dog."

"Best guard dogs in history," Jared says, watching as his fearsome guard dogs flock to Jensen, licking at him in welcome.

"What are they gonna do, love robbers to death?"

"The affectionate barking is so annoying, anyone but me flees immediately. It's the perfect way to ensure I have no thieves or friends."

Jensen laughs, rubbing Sadie between the ears until Oscar butts his head in, trying to steal the affection. Sadie snaps at him, and they bicker for a few seconds while Harley sniffs at Jared's pockets for snacks.

"Now I know who the smart head is," Jensen says, watching as Jared pulls a pack of bacon treats out and gives one to Harley.

"He's a business man," Jared agrees, patting Harley for a few seconds before tugging the other two heads apart and leading them into his apartment. He closes the door and escorts Jensen forward. "This is the living room. The dogs pretty much own this room."

Jensen smiles and follows as Jared walks on. "And this," Jared says, stopping by one of the chairs at his table, "is the dining room. All set for a romantic dinner for two."

Jensen's eyes widen as he looks around the room. There are dragons wrapped around each of the candles on the table, keeping a low flame on each. The room is overgrown with bright red rose hedgies, leaves and flowers covering everything except for the tables and chairs and Jared's path to the kitchen. In the corner, a small choir of songbirds coo something romantic pianissimo, just loud enough to set the mood without being too noticeable. Jared just hopes it isn't Coldplay. He swears he doesn't like Coldplay.

"Jesus, Jared. This is…"

"That's alright," Jared says, pulling out Jensen's chair. "Take your time about describing it. Some adjectives I recommend are: amazing, incredible, romantic, the best ever, and, my personal favorite, 'likely to get Jared laid.'"

Jensen snorts. "I thought you weren't allowed to have more than one pet in here."

"They're on loan from Misha's. I'll take them back tomorrow. What landlord doesn't know won't hurt him, right?"

"Jared Padalecki, you are a wicked man," Jensen says, taking his seat as Jared pushes him back in. "This is really something."

"I rescue damsels in distress, too," Jared says, preening. "I'm a certified hero."

"So many talents," Jensen deadpans. "Where do they end?"

"Cooking," Jared admits.

Jensen raises an eyebrow, and Jared holds a finger up, disappearing into the kitchen to bring back a giant brown bag and some paper plates. "That's why I made Misha get us carry-out."

Jensen sighs, but to Jared's relief, he looks charmed rather than annoyed or offended that Jared didn't cook. "This what I have to look forward to from now on?"

"I sure hope so," Jared says, serving Jensen a hearty helping of rice.

Once their plates are both heaped with small mountains of food, Jared takes the seat across from Jensen.

"So, Jensen," Jared says, resting his chin in his hands and pretending to be deeply engrossed. "Tell me about yourself."

Jensen makes a disgruntled face and tugs on his fork, frowning. "Jared, the candle dragons are trying to steal my chicken."

Jared's face falls. "Right. Didn't quite think that part out completely."

Jensen shakes his head, rolling his eyes as he does so. "You're a mess," he says.

"I guess I am," Jared agrees, tossing the dragons scraps of chicken and picking them up once they're distracted. He deposits them back into the lanterns he got them from. They hang easily in the grip of a hedgie, and the lamplight isn't much less romantic than the candlelight, which is still going strong. "But then you're not perfect either, Mr. I'm-a-Professional-I-Think-I-Can-Handle-One-Kelpie."

"Not my proudest moment," Jensen admits, looking down at the table. "And I'm man enough to admit you were right. That thing is evil."

Jared laughs. "Misha has at least promised to fence her off and call in a real expert next time she's acting sick, so that's something." He licks his lips and takes his seat again. "But what the hell happened, Jensen? I know you weren't stupid enough to follow her."

"I got distracted," he admits, looking up at Jared coyly.

"What the hell could be so important you'd let your guard down around—?"

"You were walking the hedgies," Jensen says. "That smile you get, when you're talking to the animals." He shakes his head. "I couldn't take me eyes off of you."

Jared feels his cheeks burning. "Mr. Ackles, it sounds like you have a crush."

"Big crush," Jensen agrees. "Promise you won't tell?"

"I make no promises." Jared takes a bite of his food, then puts his fork down in frustration. "You know, I went out there to watch out for you. Not distract you and almost get you killed."

"Well, you did then save my life. So, you know." Jensen smirks. "Not holding any grudges over here."

Jared watches Jensen eat for a few minutes before he kind of can't wrap his head around how lucky he is and blurts out, "Man, Jensen, if you had any idea how long I've been wanting to ask you out. Way before it was okay to want it, let me tell you."

Jensen swallows and takes a sip of wine and then looks up at Jared, eyes scanning his face for a long minute. "I was relieved," he says. Jared is about to ask what he means, but then Jensen continues, "When I caught Matt with that girl. I mean, I was heartbroken and betrayed, sure. But a part of me was relieved, too. That he'd done it before I could. I didn't want to be the bad guy, Jared, but I wanted you so bad. From the moment I saw your eyes light up with all that glee just because you thought I was gonna give that hedgie a home. I don't remember the last time Matt made me feel that important, and I was just a stranger you wanted to sell a pet to."

"Oh," Jared answers dumbly. "Maybe you do have some idea."

Jensen laughs, and that smile on his face—that's a beautiful fucking smile. Jared wants to own that smile. Jared has every intention of owning that smile. But it feels a little early in the night, let alone the relationship, to say all of that, so instead Jared says, "Save room for dessert."

"You are dessert," Jensen replies with a lewd wink.

It's not quite romantic by Jared's standards, but he thinks he can live with that for now.

**The End.**


End file.
